Deathless Though Dead
On the sacred occasion of Mahasivaratri at Prasanthi Nilayam, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba in the ensuing discourse urges devotees to transcend body-consciousness and realize that we are spiritual beings that are deathless. He assures us that single-minded devotion through various spiritual practices will stand us in good stead.
Shivaratri is the day when Maheswara [Siva] takes up the linga [spheroid symbol of Siva] form for the benefit of spiritual seekers; what they have to seek from Maheswara is jnana (spiritual wisdom). “It is wisdom that makes manifest the divinity latent in man.” It is the final achievement of all penance, yoga [spiritual practice] and yaga [ritual of sacrifice]. You cannot get that joy, or even a fraction of that joy, pursuing earthly pleasure. To cure you of the bite of a cobra in a dream, you have to be awakened; that is all. `Waking’ is the acquisition of jnana. That knowledge is acquired by ceaseless dhyana (meditation) of the almighty’s glory and potency.
There are two essential requirements for a happy life: dhaanya and dhyana. Whereas dhaanya (grains) is required for the sustenance of the body, dhyana is essential for entering the temple of the Lord and merging in His glory. Sastry [the earlier speaker] said that sages retired into the silence of the forest and through hard mental toil, obtained the great treasure of spiritual experience and inspiration for mankind. In fact, Sastry cited many examples of such seers. However, there are some who condemn this retirement from the jostling crowds and call these heroes cowards who are afraid to face the stern demands of life! They label them as selfish and desirous only of their own salvation in exclusion to that of others.
In reality, the sages took refuge in lonely places to learn the secret of liberation, for the benefit of humanity. It is very much like the young man who goes abroad now for higher technical training; you cannot condemn him as a coward or a selfish individual when the very purpose is to sharpen and deepen one’s experience, and become more useful to the society! Indeed, the sole objective of the sages was to keep the senses away from things that delight and deviate, to escape the infection that will damage the springs of joy.
Passions are only apparent
The atmavidya [knowledge of self] that the seers specialize in when they are in the ashrams and hermitages of the forest, brings salvation to all those who later come in contact with them. Their calmness and joy will inspire others too. You find fault with them for leaving you; but what good does the man who stays, achieve? People belonging to the same family, despite living together, behave like snakes and scorpions towards each other. Many a home reminds you of a menagerie rather than a cozy abode of joy and peace!
Earlier, this morning [morning discourse], I spoke of anger, hatred, envy, and pride as flames of fire that consume the mind. Now, the Sastry from Delhi said that such passions are only apparent and that the real you is not bothered by them! This reminds Me of a story. A boy once offered to label the containers in his kitchen according to the food articles in them, and his mother agreed. He wrote and pasted the correct labels on all the containers except the one with sugar. He had, in fact, labeled sugar as red chillies. When reprimanded, the boy said that he mis-labeled it only to deceive the ants, which will not swarm over a can of red chilies! Superficial Vedic philosophy will not keep the ants away.
Of course, these pretentious qualities are useful sometimes much like the hiss of the cobra that can keep the disturbers away. Anger and hatred can be used to ward off the evil that stalks the aspirant; be angry at things that hamper you; hate the habits that brutalize you. Cultivate jnana and visualize the Lord in things and activities that make this human birth worthwhile; do not seek faults in others, for the others are but manifestations of the Lord you are seeking to realize. It is your own fault that you see in others. There are only two things in this world: one apparent, and the other, real; the kshetra [field] and the kshterajna [the knower of the field]. The kshetra is the deha (body) and the kshterajna is the dehi (self). The loka (world) is the form of the Lokesha (Lord of the world); the world is the body of God.
Make death a sublime act of liberation
You are awake when you feel that you have full knowledge; but, when awake, you are aware only of the many, not of the One. It is only when you are in deep sleep that all the multiplicity vanishes; then, you are not aware of the world and of your deluded picture of it. Examine, even while awake, the stages of dream and deep sleep, and realize that wakefulness is a handicap to the seeker of truth; the senses are deceptive; they are inefficient instruments. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa once shocked everyone by slapping Rani Rasmani on the cheek while she was praying before the shrine at Dakshineswar [in Caulcutta, East of India], for he knew that she was not asking the Mother for liberation, but bondage! Make use of the chance given to set yourself free; do not foolishly let it go.
Perhaps, when you return to your villages, you too will tell those people that, “there were thousands and thousands of people from all parts of India, and even from some foreign countries, at Puttaparthi. There was a big rush to have Baba’s darshan (sight of a holy person), etc.” But, that is not what you should take back from here.
There, once, was a lady who attended the musical recitation of a Puranic story; she sat through long hours. Although she could describe about the gathering, noise, lights, mike, and loudspeakers, she had no idea at all about the story that was expounded! From this, learn the value of silence, namasmarana [repetition of the name], bhajan [devotional singing], japa [spiritual exercise], dhyana, single-minded remembrance of the Lord, and the association with spiritually akin. These will stand you in good stead when distress assails you.
Once when the master of the house was dying, his wife and children anxiously pestered him saying, “What is to happen to us when you leave us?” The dying man turned to them in equal despair and said, “What is to happen to me when I leave you?” and died. Do not move helplessly on to that doom of despair. Do not die in spirit, though the body may fall away. Know that the real “you” is deathless; make death a sublime act of liberation.
Steady spiritual pursuit
Such knowledge can come only through a life devoted to dharmanishta (steady pursuit of the moral code) and karmanishta (steady devotion to the duties of one’s stage of life). These two must end in the evolution of a third nishta [disciplined or regulated behavior] just like fire and water produce steam to haul a train of wagons, or, like oil and air produce gas in the engine to haul a car. The third nishta is Brahmanishta—the steady contemplation of the One basis of all this seeming multiplicity, namely, Brahmam. The steady practice of this nishta leads to the great deluge of wisdom that enables your separate individual existence to merge with Him; indeed, it restores you to Him.
Many thousands have come today to this Prasanthi Nilayam and joined this unique satsang (holy gathering). Many who, in the past, had come regularly for all Sivaratris to witness and be elevated by the sight of the atmalingodbhavam (oval shaped form of self) have not come today; many, who have not come so far, have had the good fortune to be present. This is not by mere chance. In the spiritual and other fields, nothing happens because of chance. Such fortune is due either to grace of God or spiritual practice. Enter into prayerful silence and be blessed by the great vision of the emergence of the atmalinga [spirit of the soul].
Source: Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. 5
